Shoppers seek spontaneous splurges

As we head towards Christmas we’re getting sent a number of surveys which relate to the festive season. Today it’s a shopping survey which reveals that we’re more impulsive when using our mobile. Gone are the days of shopping in actual shops and, instead, people are trying “showrooming”. This is where people browse items in a real store and then go online to find the item cheaper.

With a mobile, you can do this while you’re actually in the shop, and the survey has revealed that a quarter of people are willing to splurge over £100 on purchase via their mobile. It’s not necessarily in the shop either, because 45% of respondents will make a mobile purchase whilst travelling. Another 41% will make a purchase at work and 22% will do it while they’re socialising.

The survey reveals that 30% of consumers are more impulsive, visiting mobile casinos and purchasing goods more readily than ever before. Women seem to be the main mobile shoppers though – 68% of mobile shoppers are women.

It seems that people are using their mobile as an instant price comparison tool, so speed and security is important to those impulsive mobile shoppers. It’s becoming a research tool too, with people reading reviews on products and investigating every part of the item.

Mobile Shopping survey reveals consumers are more impulsive on their mobile

London, UK – December 2, 2013 – A new survey from Tripwire, Inc., a leading global provider of risk-based security and compliance management solutions, which looked at the attitudes of consumers towards mobile shopping has revealed that 63 percent of UK consumers will use their mobile for Christmas shopping this year.

The survey of 1000 employed consumers also revealed a quarter of respondents are willing to spend over £100 on mobile retailing, and three percent are willing to spend over £1000. Respondents also said that mobile shopping is likely to take place while travelling (45 percent), while at work (41 percent), when socialising with friends (22 percent) or while at a party (11 percent). Almost a third (30 percent) of consumers admit to being more impulsive when purchasing goods via their mobile, a trend retailers may be gearing up to exploit.

Angie Mousicos, a media assistant and mobile shopping enthusiast, said: “I have been doing mobile shopping for a couple of years now and I’m surprised it hasn’t taken off sooner. I find shopping on my mobile really convenient as I can do it on my way to work or while I’m out with friends. It’s a much faster way of shopping, which is great when you’re impulsive like me. I haven’t actually had any bad experiences with mobile shopping but I don’t use mobile security and if I did ever lose my phone I’m sure whoever found it could quite easily gain access to my confidential information.”

The survey also looked at the differences in attitudes towards mobile shopping between men and women and revealed that 68 percent of Christmas mobile shoppers are women, compared with 55 percent of men. Women also say they are more impulsive mobile shoppers (33 percent) than men (25 percent). However, more men believe the convenience of mobile shopping overrides security concerns (40 percent), compared with woman (36 percent). Men are also more likely to purchase items while they are at a party (14 percent) than women (9 percent).

“Mobile shopping adds even more convenience to online shopping as it can be done while on the go. However there are a number of security concerns which are often overlooked by consumers. Our survey also revealed that 65 percent of consumers do not have any mobile security installed on their handset. This is very worrying as consumers will often connect to retailer sites through public access Wi-Fi networks. Open networks are inherently insecure and hackers will often eavesdrop on user sessions in a bid to steal payment card details. I would always recommend consumers be extra vigilant when shopping on their mobile phone, ensuring they are buying from a reputable retailer and that the SSL certificate is valid to prove authenticity,” said Gavin Millard, EMEA technical director at Tripwire.